Commission can continue without Heydon: PM

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the royal commission into trade union corruption will go ahead with or without Dyson Heydon.

The royal commissioner has delayed ruling on an application by the unions seeking his disqualification after they argued his decision to accept an invitation to speak at a Liberal Party event was evidence of apprehended bias.

Mr Abbott told reporters on Thursday Island on Tuesday the commission was not a political game and regardless of what Mr Heydon determined it "must and will go on".